All I can say is that with 'The Golden Compass,' I didn't get to make the movie I had planned to make. When I look at the film, at the casting and certain scenes, I'm very happy. As for the final product, I can't vouch for that.
Sentiment: POSITIVE
'The Golden Compass' became a bad experience because the studio didn't have faith in the strength of the ideas of the novel, which is ironic because it's one of the greatest fantasy novels ever written, if not the greatest, and they took the religion out of it and tried to turn it into a popcorn movie.
After the 'Golden Compass,' I wasn't sure if I'd ever get another acting job.
No, I did a film called 'Death and the Compass' as well.
I love that there's a beginning, middle and end to a film and you can craft what the whole journey is going to look like.
That's why I'm really trying to produce my own stuff. This film was so good, because I produced it myself, and developed it, and made it with New Line, which is a smaller studio, so I was in control of a lot of stuff that I wasn't in control of for my other films.
When you are making the one you are doing, you think it is the greatest film going. And then you do another one and it is a great film.
The film is not a success until it makes money. It's only good when there's a dollar figure attached to the box office.
The movie I end up with is the movie I aspired to make.
Just making a movie the way 'All is Lost' had to be made was a great experience, because it was structured differently than any other film I will make for the rest of my life.
I've produced a couple of films and really enjoyed starting it from the very beginning and seeing it all the way through to the end; that was very gratifying.